Don't you feel the same, especially when you don't like your job anymore and want to move on to a better job except for the fact that you are skeptical about not getting the job? Such freedom of using your will power is generally thought to be the possession of a handful few, but it is, in reality, not the case....The story of Raju is one such example of the freedom to use one's WILL.
Remember, when recession struck in Nov 2008, how many people went jobless? Final Year students did not get Job Offer letters even though 'campusing' was way over. Each one of you were trembling to the core as to whether there would be any jobs after all. At that precise moment, there was someone who gave a damn to the world and carried on his job quietly - without the fear of being thrown out. Guess why? He was his own master. The name of that "someone" is Raju.
Raju belongs to that "rare breed" of people who work in order to see another day. He is not like you and me who work because of a "social" obligation or "job satisfaction". Try explaining these people the meaning of "job satisfaction", and you will realize how inconsequential these two words are. These people can show you how they can get "job satisfaction" in any job they do, no matter how small they are to people like us. For people like Raju, "job satisfaction" means to get the minimum amount of money so that his family can have two square meals a day. For us, "job satisfaction" is a "show-off" - we don't realize the significance of these two words when we utter them.
Raju came to Mumbai 11 years ago to fulfil his dreams. "Mein apna bizness chalana chahta tha," Raju said. He failed miserably. For three years, he struggled to set up a small business but to no avail. It was then that he moved to Pune. "Mein tab 17 saal ka tha. Mein ghar-bari chor ke chala aya tha kaam dhundte-dhundte," Raju uttered in between his yellow-tainted teeth. Raju hails from Baishali jila of Bihar, where his mother and father stay. His current address is J.M. Road where he sells coconut water to the thirsty shoppers as well as non-shoppers.
Cradled on a cart made of rectangular wooden planks are piles of green tender coconut which are the day's freshest catch. This cradle is his office-cum-shop-cum-LIFE. Ever since he came to Pune, he has been selling coconut water to customers on J.M. Road, sometimes though he shifts to Karve Road once in a while. From 11 in the morning to 10 at night, he stays there with his thella (cart) and serves tender coconut water by slicing off the upper skin with a thick blade knife - with such a force that it would seem he can sear off a person's head in no time at all!
Having worked as the "CEO" of his coconut selling shop for the past eight years, he is now tired and wants to move on. His main grievance is that the people of the city are no more the same as before. He is "dissatisfied" with the way the city treats him and wishes to go someplace else where he will get better and more customers. In our terms, "he is looking for a better market."
But isn't he apprehensive of starting all over again in a new city, I ask him. He shakes his head vehemently to show how much he disagrees to my point of view. "Mein jab Bihar chora tha, mera kya kuch tha? Agar mein uss samay khara ho saka, mein aj bhi woh kar sakunga. Samay se kuch farak nehi parta hein mujhe. Mein apne aap pe bharosa karta hoon." I gave a wry smile to him, implying that I know how far you can go. But his next action threw away my confidence.
He gave a broad smile and extended his right palm. My right hand automatically reached him and clasped his palm (without my realization)..... I knew I had met a winner - someone who does not believe in the economics of this world and lives the way he wants to, someone who does not fear FATE 'coz he believes in himself. My heart melted. I gave him a hug.
this guy was one in a million...
ReplyDeleteright said, ptolemaeus
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